Feng Shui is becoming a greater part of mainstream life, particularly with an increasing Asian population.
How to Attract Asian Buyers
There are some Feng Shui design principles that you should be aware of if you want to keep the door wide open to potential Asian buyers. Being Asian does not mean that Feng Shui is part of their knowledge. However, having grown up with it as part of their culture, there are some principles that ‘everyone knows’.
Here are some common Feng Shui principles to consider:
- Build on the high side of the road if there is a sideways slope to it, eg. You want your home to be in a commanding higher position in the street, not falling backwards off the hill, or below the road line.
- Avoid straight lines between the front and back doors.
- Avoid the staircase leading straight onto the front door.
- Make sure that you are creating bedrooms where there is a place for the bed so it is not against the same wall as the door, and not in the doorway in any way!
Asian Symbolism
Many Asians have a belief that the number 4 stands for death (because its Chinese symbol is very close to that for ‘death’).
- They will avoid buying house numbers with 4s in them, or those that add up to 4, eg. 22, or 31.
- They will also avoid any lamps or features that resemble round white globes, as these also considered to symbolise death.
As a western Feng Shui practitioner, I consider these things as having to do with belief and they are not strictly speaking Feng Shui. I would personally not hesitate to live in a house with such numbers, but many people do.
On that note, the number 8, or multiples of 8, is considered very lucky. So if you can score a place or unit with such numbers you have an advantage in selling later.